Today is a GREAT DAY!

Last night we all got a great nights sleep. It was awesome sleeping with the windows open a little and having the fresh night air fill the room.

5am the cat came into our room and took a leap to run up my body. Savita is my little alarm to let me know that my mom is out of bed or having a problem. Every time, like a little alarm that was triggered, the cat comes to get me.

I went downstairs and my mom had woken up but wasn't out of bed. I asked her how she was this morning and she said "Great! I feel so good today. I love sleeping in the morning." I took the opportunity and told her to roll over and sleep on her left side. Years ago I had learned from a nurse that if you lay on your left side, it gets your intestines in the right position so that it's easier for your stool to move. She needs a good movement today.

Mom rolled over on her left side with her head nestled in her pillow and a smile on her face. I rubbed her head like she used to do to me and her mother used to do to her. She drifted off to sleep in seconds.

I went back to sleep too. It really felt good to sleep and feel peace.

8am, Cat alarm... Savita made her flying leap on the bed and landed on my legs. Last vet visit she weighed 11.5 lbs. It hurst when she lands. No claws are out, it's just sheer body weight. She's learned the higher she jumps the harder she lands. Of course she doesn't try this trick on Brian, just me. It's almost like she's getting back at me for all those times I rub her belly with my hand, she hates hands.

I got up as I remembered to say the phrase outloud, "Today will be a GREAT DAY!" I declared a great day for myself today. Saying this phrase outloud works as you get out of bed in the morning. Enthusiasm and strong emotion puts power behind the words. I always have a great day when I start it with a grand declaration as this phrase embodies.

My mom was half awake. The squeeky stairs woke her as I walked down them. She felt really good. Her blood pressure was 143/63 - a very good reading for her. Her blood sugar was 104, higher than usual but it's probably because she forgot to brush her teeth last night.

I had coffee with my mom this morning as she took her little dish of supplements. She was excited to tell me that she remembered a dream. That the dream woke her but she realized that it was just a dream.

She told me that she dreampt that the UPS guy came with a package. She described other sounds and things that were going on. At one point she heard someone shoveling snow... then she said to herself, "snow? this must be a dream." She did eventually get up and see if there was a package at the door and snow on the ground. When there wasn't a package or snow, she was became pleased with herself for being able to distinguish between a dream and reality. She tucked herself back in and went back to sleep.

Brian and I are noticing a pattern with my mom. She has 1 good day after a solid night sleep and then the next 2 nights she sleeps less and wakes up frightened by hallucinations. I read that eggplant and tomatoes can cause a problem for folks with Lewy Bodies. The days my mom eats eggplant or tomatoes, she doesn't seem to sleep. No more eggplant and tomatoes for my mom, not until I can see if these foods are the triggers for her sleepless nights.

I can't find the article that I had read that discusses the deadly nightshade family of plants and how the active ingredient in the plants fruit is bad for people with Lewy Bodies. However, I did find a Psychiatrist MD with Lewy Bodies writing about the disease from a personal perspective. I am thrilled to have found his blog.

Mom is a light sleeper. She lives on the basement level of our home currently, where you can hear all the house sounds. Today, we are moving her upstairs and giving her our Master Suite. It's more remenesce of her bedroom set up in the house I had owned in Groveland.

Brian and I will take over the downstairs. We will have the entire floor to ourselves. I won't need to walk by my mother in law every time I want to go outside or out for a drive. Maybe it's my own paranoia but I always felt like I was under her watchful eye.

I love my mother in law, we've become closer because of my mom's condition. I was frightened of my ML for so long, she scared the snot out of me. She has a mean streak that you don't want to cross. I crossed her when I married her son and moved my mom, our cat and myself into Brian's house. I got the impression that she viewed me as a jesabell or something.

Remembering my dad's wise words, "Susie, wait a minute, things will change", I waited. I was as patient as I could be. I changed my mind. I changed how I approached her. I replaced my fear with love.

I'm a pretty good cook, although my husband calls me a gourmet chef. I began cooking my heart out, making everything fresh and from scratch. My mother in law never tasted food so good and just last night she told me that my cooking is better than the finest restaurant. She's so sweet, especially when she likes you.

My Mother in Law watches me still, all day. Only now she watches me care for my mom. She sees that I'm doing everything possible to help our little Jo, Rachel's only friend. Rachel loves my mom and was upset when she heard the news about my mom's dementia. Rachel wants my mom to continue living here with us, she would worry about her in a home, like I would.

Moving my mom upstairs, Rachel and Jo will share the main floor of the house. We feel it will help my mom a lot and Rachel too. They both need to socialize and neither of them are very social, they never have been.

Side note: If you are young, make sure you keep friends and socialize, they will be very important people when you are all old together. Maybe one of them will help you find your lost mind when you need it the most.

Anyway, today IS a GREAT DAY. No more tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes and peppers for my mom.